Reactor



Feb.` 4, 1930. W A; READY 1,745,812

REAGTOR Filed April 2, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l jo .I f6 ,1% la@ j? j@ fed ZZ j@ 130'/ l ,Z 165 j@ gf Z l ,K0- X65 0 jj JZ JZ ,5'1- lgi E a 1615 :IL: T 'if Il all; Il nu' 10 Z6 w 10/ Z3 l i 50 A f -2 1 J4 5 30' J0 166 o {0`` V 30 J0' O G \r\rl\ O Z O C l I j Z J0 7i/ sa lvewiow w13 bia 711 Ll? 666673 W. A. READY Feb. 4, 1930.

REACTOR Filed April 2. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lal=l lalalJs/Aal 17 QJ? eawc @MW/ wam@ az Patented Feb. 4i, 193i@ UNITED STATES WILLIAM A. READY, OF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS REACTOR Application filed April 2,

This invention relates to improvements in reactors. More especially it relates to improved supporting means by which the coil of the reactor is kept in shape and performs 5 its electrical functions in spite of severe strains imposed upon it.

The purpose of a reactor or choke coil is set up almost instantly a counter electromotive force in opposition to a suddenly created excess voltage on a line and hold back this disturbing high voltage, or at least limit the magnitude of the portion of it which passes the coil, until other means has relieved the line of the overcharge. These excessive charges,

suddenly applied as they are, cause severe mechanical strains on the coil and tend to distort it in several ways. For example, in a single phase circuit suddenly overloaded, a coil would be subjected to reactance forces which would in the main tend to distort the coil along its axis and to bulge it outward. In a three phase circuit, similar' conditions would exist and, because of neighboring coils,

u other forces might be set up which would tend 2 both to disturb the coil shape itself or to thrust it bodily away from its neighbors. It is therefore of the essence in a reactor to provide a support for the coil which will resist both tensile and compression forces arising both directly from the coils own reactance and inductively from other units, to the end that the shape of the coil will be retained under abnormal conditions and its electrical y duties be performed without interruption.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to embed more or less of the coil proper within plastic supporting means, such as conc-rete, which is highly resistant to compressive forces and which can to an appreciable degree resist tensil forces. It is a further object, however, to provide other means for holding the plastic supporting means integral against the effects of these tensile forces. Another object is to provide still additional means for holding the turns of the coil itself in proper spaced relation in the event that its plastic supporting means should by accident become ruptured. It is still another obj ect to provide means connecting two or more reactors together, which re- 1926. Serial No. 99,420.

sists movement of the reactors toward or away from one another. It is a feature of the improved construction that two or more coils may be employed in the same unit to obtain considerably more reactance without appreciable increase in size. And it is a further feature that the rugged, compact reactor of the invention can be produced at low cost, without highly skilled labor, and with uniformity of electrical characteristics.

These objects and the features which characterize the construction herein disclosed are attained in the preferred form by embedding one or more coils of wire in a cylindrical shell of plastic material, supported between two end members of non-magnetic metal clamped tightly against the ends of the shell by an insulated tie extending from one member to the other through the hollow of the shell.A The plastic material itself is amply strong to resist the compressive forces exerted upon it, and its own tensile strength is augmented by the tie member and end members to resist the forces tending to tear it apart. For end members I prefer to employ solid disks or plates, each of which has an offset portion by which the plate is anchored to a suitable insulated support, and each of which has cross ribs on its outer surface to reinforce it, one of said ribs being priniarily in the form of a brace between the offset portion and the disk portion of the plate. The offset portion also serves as a clamp to bind the ends of the coil wires and as a terminal block to which the transmission wires are secured. In another form illustrated herein, the plastic support may be of columnar formation with end members bearing on the ends of the columns. In this modification no tie member is used between the end members, vtheir own rigidity and anchorage being depended upon to keep them firmly against the plastic supporting means. There is also embedded within the plastic mass, whether of the shell or columnar type, several ropes which are interwoven lengthwise of the coil and transversely between the individual turns thereof. These ropes aid in keeping the turns properly spaced during the formation of the plastic supporting means, but their primary purpose is to serve as an auxiliary means, in case the plastic material becomes cracked or broken, for holding the coil in'shape against the forces tending to distort it. Where two or more reactors are used, it is possible because of the strength inherent in the construction of each reactor to place them side by side; andwhen so arranged,the invention provides an insulated connection between the end supporting means of the several reactors. This connection is preferably a channel bar of bakelite, which can resist both tensile and compressive forces exerted upon it.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure .1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a reactor constructed in accordance Y with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan, in section, on line 2 2 of Figure 1;

' Figure. 3 an end elevation, partly in section, online" 3 3 of Figure 1;

Figure l is an eleva-tion, like Figure 3,

showing amodified form of end member.;

VFigure 5 is aside .elevation of reactor in which the .plastic supporting means is of the .columnar type;

Figure Gis a plan ofthe saine;

Figure? is a plan view showing three reactors with interconnected end supporting` means; Y Figure 8 is a side view partly in section on line 8-,8 of Figure 7 and Figure 9 is a section on line 9 9 of' Figure. n

V In makingareactorof the preferred form, ,two wires are separately wound in helical coils 10 and 1()a of different diameters, so that one may be placed `outside theother about a common axis. When thus positioned, several .ropes .12 ,are interwoven transversely betweenthe turns of wire throughout the length of the coils at various places around them, for example,.every ninety degrees along their -peripheries These ropes aid in temporarily keeping the coils in proper spaced Lrelation whilethey areplaced in a suitable form (not shown) into which plastic material ris poured to form, upon hardening, a solid cylindrical shellla that encases both the wire coils and the ropes.

This shell with its embeddedcoils is then clamped tightly between two end Vplates 16 .of .conducting but preferably non-.magnetic metal. Each plate is provided with a flange 16a nicely fitting'y about the edge ofthe-,Sheller casing, landthe outer surface ofthe plate has .cross ribs 1.6" which ,reinforce .thegplate and help resist vany tendencyof theplate to-bend or :bulge outward. At .their intersection, these ribs form 1a hub 16through'which is passed arrete ebelt .La iitsfithreadee .stem .l5a

extending outside the hub, and its yoked end 18b projecting Within the hollow of the casing. A non-conducting strap QO-bakelite being particularly suitableis clamped to the yoke ends of the bolts, and forms the tie by which the plates are drawn firmly against the ends of the shell when the nuts 22 on the bolts are tightened. Y

Each plate 16 has an offset portion 161 at its edge which has split sections 161a and 161h yproperly recessed and'` rooved to receive the ends 10 and 10a of tie wires of the coils. 4'Lag bolts 24 clamp the split sections upon the wire ends and kalso fasten the offset portions to blocks 26, which are firmly anchored in insulating standards 28. These latter -are in kturn mounted upon a lbase board .30, provision being made by slotted vholes 30V for movement of the standards toward one another in case it is necessary to take up on the nuts 22 and draw the end plates Vmore firmly against the shell ends i Line wires 32 are connected .to the offset portions, and the vcircuit .from one :to the other is through the plate and the coils, the

latter being connected in parallel tothe offset portions. This arrangement enables more reactance to be effected in a reactor whose dimensions are substantially .no greater for two or more coils thanfif onlyone is yused.

In operation, in case of a sudden .overcharge on.the.line,.the tendency ofthe coil to collapse or come together .is resistedby the plastic material primarily, with some assist ance being rendered bythe grip ofthe split sections 161a and 161b on the wire ends. If the coil tends to elongate orexpand, the plas- 4.tic material resists and in addition .the tie member acting through the plates holds the plastic material from being .torn apart. In this connection the reinforcing ribs 16b act as strut membersbetween the hub ofthe plate and its disk-or flat portion, and also between the offset portion 161 and the disk portion.

In case of' a tendency of the coil to buckle, or

bulge sidewise, .the plastic mass resists the Vcompressive forces on one side and ,thepla-te 4and tie members co-actto overcome the. tensile forces impressed .upon the other side. As a consequence the coil with kits supporting .means effectively resists the severemechanical strains incidentto a rcactance Voperation and maintains the integrity ofthe reactor under ,the abnormal Yconditionsto which it is subjected. orcrackedas by being struck inadvertently,

.the embedded ropes are still-available Ato impose a restraining force` uponl anytendencyof the coil tto distort. The =-ropes, being fstill firmly V*interwoven about the ,wireturiisand being with them embedded in the secticnsof lfthe shell should,becometbroken l the lplastic `shell remaining, are ,sufiicicntly anchored to enable them totakenp-.the burden 0f holdingithe Coil .in place @and preventing Yfurther.@hanvaticani:the.shelllil Figure 4 shows an end member 16A which has cross supporting arms 16d instead of a solid disk plate. Each arm is reinforced by ribs 1Gb similar to those already described, and the hub 16c formed at the intersection of the ribs is used as a seat for the clamp nut 22 threaded on to the yoke bolt 18. The lower end of the vertical arm terminates in an offset portion 161, like that previously described, by which the end member is attached to the insulated support 28.

In Figures 5 and 6 the plastic supporting means comprises a series of columns 14a having embedded therein portions of each turn of wire and 10a. These columns are supported between end members 16B of bracket shape, having ribs 16e extending between the face of the bracket which is toward the columns and the face which is anchored to the supporting base 28. In this modification, each end plate is shown as insulated from the coil proper by a bakelite plate 34 interposed between the ends of the columns and the adjacent fac-e of the plate 16B. The wire ends 10 and 10a are secured to a clamp block 36 which also serves as a terminal for the line wires 32. In this embodiment of the invention, no tie member is provided between the end members, but the anchorage of the bases 28 is depended upon to keep the end members and bakelite plate rmly pressed against the columns. Preferably a. rope would be embedded in each column to serve as ancillary supporting` means in case a column should become broken.

rl`hree reactors of the type particularly disclosed in Figures 1 to 3, are shown in Fig ures 7 and 8, arranged side by side, as in a thrce-phase circuit. A channel bar 38 of nonconducting material, bakelite for example, is provided at the ends of the reactors to connect them together. T he web 38a of each bar has holes through which extend the threaded stems 18a of the yoke bolts. Accordingly when the nuts 22 are tightened they not only clamp the end members 16 tightly against the shells 14, but also clamp the channel bars 38 to the end plates. In consequence any tendency of one reactor to move bodily toward or away from its neighbors will be resist-ed by the bars 38, each being capable of resisting both tensile and compressive forces.

I claim:

1. A reactor comprising, in combination, a supporting structure of plastic material; a helical coil embedded therein; end plates attached to said supporting structure and constituting supports therefor and terminal connectors for said coil; each plate having means adapted to receive one end of the coil, and having a reinforcing rib extending from said portion across the outer surface of the plate to resist forces tending to bend the plate away from the shell and further having a flange adapted to surround the supporting structure.

2. A. reactor comprising, in combination, a cylindrical shell of plastic material; a helical coil embedded therein; and end plates attached to said shell, constituting supports therefor and terminal connectors for said coil; each plate having reinforcing ribs across the outer surface thereof adapted` to resist forces tending to bend the plate outward, and forming a hub centrally of the plate; a bolt extending through said hub having a yoke interiorly of the plate; an insulated strap eX- tending through the hollow of said shell and secured to the yoke of each plate-bolt; and means for drawing said bolts through the plate-hubs to clamp the plates against the shell.

3. A reactor comprising, in combination a supporting structure of plastic non-conducting material; a helical coil embedded therein; end plates of conducting material attached to said supporting structure and constituting supports therefor and terminal connectors for said coil; and means interwoven between the turns of the coil and embedded in the supporting structure for exerting a constraining force on the coil ancilliary to the resistance offered by said supporting structure and plates against distortion.

4. A reactor comprising a pair of insulatf ing posts; a plate, having an offset portion, secured to each post; a plastic shell mounted between the said plates and having its ends bearing against said plates; a coil of wire embedded in said shell with its ends secured to said plates; and means for clamping said plates against the shell ends.

5. A reactor comprising, in combination, a helical coil of conducting material; plastic supporting means for said coil, extending lengthwise of the coil and within which the coil is embedded; non-conducting reinforcing means interwoven with the turns of said coil within said plastic supporting means; end members engaging the ends of saidfplastic supporting means; and means holding said end members in said engagement.

G. A reactor comprising, in combination, a supporting structure of insulating material, plates of conducting material fitted against the ends of said supporting structure, a coil firmly embedded in said supporting structure and supported thereby, said coil having its ends connected to said plates, and terminal means secured to said plates and adapted to be connected to a line wire, said plates acting as conducting means between the said terminals and ends of the coil.

VILLIAM A. READY. 

